Mongol Trial Day 7 (1/13/14)

Today was the day!  The Mongol Trial went smoothly as I could have imagined it to.

My opening statement was strong and bold, and I am sure it shook the jury and the defendants!

Today in class, we proceeded to finish the two opening statements as well as three of our witnesses (including the cross examination and direct examinations for each).  The The defendants (Dillon (Pope Innocent IV), Hafsa (the Abbasid Caliph), and Rachel (Chinese Peasant)) all supported the prosecution of the Mongols and did a great job as witnesses!  The opening statement of the defense team was strong; however I feel as though it misrepresented the situation and falsified many facts.  First off, the defense team denied killing 50 million people....its a fact.  Secondly, the defense was wrong in saying that the Mongols committed these odious crimes for the sake of self defense.  This is too historically wrong - the Mongols deliberately attacked others for the sake of the expansion of the Mongol Empire.  A reoccurring problem/hole in the defenses' arguments/opening statements was that they did not discuss the crimes they committed.  They rather focussed on the positive aspects of the Mongols.  I understand where the defense is coming from on this standpoint, but they are not properly addressing the charge at hand: ARE THE MONGOLS GUILTY OF KIDNAPPING, TERRORIZING, AND/OR GENOCIDE?  By focusing on the positives of the Mongols, the defense is beating around the bush and is avoiding being found guilty.

I expressed my concerns for these mistakes via my tweets...who knew tweeting about putting the Mongols on trial could be so much fun.......

At home, I am brainstorming ways to refute the arguments of the defense and come up with possible Tweets.  I contributed to the team blog, and with the help from my team, I know that WE WILL WIN THE TRIAL!!!

I am really enjoying this Mongol Trial!  It has taught me such a great amount of information about the Mongols (and facilitated my reading and understanding of Chapter 18), but it has also been fun at the same time!  I didn't know nearly as much about the trial process and law lingo as I do now, and it has definitely expanded my horizons!

Tomorrow is Long 4, long APWH!  Can't wait to see what surprises (and Tweets) tomorrow brings!